Selah Joy

Selah Joy Desjardins arrived on November 2nd, 2010 at 629am. She weighed 7lbs 7ozs and was 19.5inches long. Welcome precious girl, we love you!

Selah Joy Desjardins has arrived!! Mom and baby are doing great!! Official stats and pics to come!

Pushing has commenced!

Anna is fully dialated and ready to go. We are starting to push!

Anna is at 8cm, only 2 more to go and then its push time baby!!

Water just broke!

A bit of rest perhaps...

Anna is hooked up and snuggled in. We are going to try and get some rest although it probably won't be much. They will be checking in on Anna's progression in a couple of hours... We still do not have any real idea of when Selah might arrive. Catch you all in a few hours!

Anna progressed to 4cm during the walk. They are admitting us to labor and delivery now and Anna is getting an epidural as we speak

We have not been admitted to the L&D but we haven't been sent home yet either. We have to walk the halls for an hour to see if anything changes.

Anna is at 3cm but close to 4. They are going to monitor for a little bit more and then have her walk to see if she is progressing at all

We have arrived at the hospital and are checked in. Anna is getting ready in triage and we are waiting for the nurse to check on her

Anna has been having painful contractions for the past couple of hours. I am home from work and we are heading to the hospital now!

Eviction notice! We will report to the hospital at 7:30am on November 4th for an induction if Selah does not make her grand entrance before then.

Still at 1cm but Anna is 60% effaced and Selah's head is "locked and loaded".

39 weeks now! Anna has started having contractions in the last few days. Anna has an OB appointment today and we'll see if she has made any progression!

Almost There!

We're down to only a couple of weeks. Anna hit the 38 week mark this past Thursday. We went in for the weekly check up. Anna is at 1cm. Her OB still thinks she will make it to at least her due date which is the 28th of this month.

There probably won't be a whole lot more on this blog until we head into the hospital when Anna start labor. At that time this blog will be updated via text messages. This will be the place where everyone can get the most updated information on Anna's progression and the grand finale, Selah's arrival.

We appreciate your love and prayer along the journey. Please continue to pray for Anna and the baby as we approach the big day!

30 Weeks and in 3D!

I know I have fallen silent on the daddy blog for the past many weeks. I guess you could call it a second-trimester lull. Well we are at 30 weeks now and time is flying by! I can't believe August is winding down, October will be here before we know it! Today was also exciting because we went in for a 3d ultrasound. In all honesty we were a bit disappointed. With Amelia we used a company that specializes in 3D ultrasound just for enjoyment purposes. Our time there was amazing. The ultrasound tech spent a lot of time with us and took a ton of pictures of Amelia's whole body. We also got a recording of the actual ultrasound on DVD. This time we paid extra to have the 3D ultrasound at Anna's OB. There is no medical purpose for this ultrasound, it's again just for enjoyment. However, the time was very brief. The ultrasound tech only got shots of Selah's face. (I did have the tech confirm for sure that Selah is still a girl... she is!) We got a few images printed out and only a CD-Rom with stills. Not quite the same experience! However, it seems that the images of Selah are a more crisp than the ones of Amelia. Also, Amelia was at the ultrasound today and she was totally into watching the screen. She would point and say with an excited voice "baby!!" Here are some of the images from the session.

First is a side by side comparison of Amelia's 3D shot at 30 weeks (on the top) and Selah's. We are noticing some differences in features for sure... but the sibling resemblance has got to be there right!? Do you see it??

Here are some more shots of Selah's beautiful face. And yes, she stayed asleep the entire time :)

Not a Whole Lot to Say

I figured if any of you are checking in here and wondering if there was ever going to be another update, that I should just put something up to say hi and let you know that we are all just chugging along. Anna and Selah are doing great! Selah is moving around more and more. Anna has another OB appointment this week. No ultrasound this time, just a check up...

I know there isn't much to this post.... sorry :( Maybe you'll find this a little interesting, the official count down to Anna's due date, Oct 28th is 113 days!

Selah Joy

Today we found out we are having another baby girl. Although, I have spent a lot of time thinking about and hoping for a boy, I am truly amazed, thrilled, and exceedingly blessed to be the father of another beautiful girl. I think Amelia is going to really enjoy having a little sister and they will be the best of friends (I'm sure the worst of enemies at times too, but ultimately the best of friends)

We are naming our newest little girl Selah Joy. We are pronouncing the first name as SAY-LA. There is some debate as to the proper pronunciation, but we are her parents and are allowed to take whatever creative liberties we choose! The word Selah can be found several times in the book of Psalms and a couple other places in the Old Testament. It's exact meaning is somewhat of a mystery. However, most believe that it is a musical or literary notation meaning something close to "stop and listen" and/or "pause and reflect" or maybe even along the lines of "let those with eyes see and with ears hear". Anna and I also love the encouragement God often gives us in scripture to be still and to rest. Even though these ideas may not be directly connected with the word Selah, we are once again invoking our creative liberties to connect these ideas with our daughter's name. Selah's middle name is Joy. This selection is somewhat timely. As I've mentioned before on this blog, Anna and I have had a very difficult and trying year. Many could consider it not a very "happy" year and therefore unfortunate. The concept of happiness is temporary and based on external circumstances. Anna and I strongly believe that joy comes from the Lord, His joy is our strength in times of trouble, and that joy is based in His eternal and unconditional love. How amazing to recognize our joy ,and to honor God as the source of our joy, with the birth of our daughter near the end of what has been such a difficult year. The following scriptures relate to our daughter's first and middle name. The first set of verses are from Psalms where the notation Selah is used. The other verses are related indirectly.

Psalms 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surly take me to himself. Selah

Psalms 67:1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us. Selah

Psalms 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah

Psalms 84:4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah

Psalms 85:2 You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. Selah

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Nehemiah 8:10b ... Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Daddy's First Kick

I just felt the little bugger kick for the first time!! Anna's been feeling the little one move for the past several weeks, but tonight as I was laying next to Anna with my hand on her tummy I felt the slightest little pop of a kick! These little firsts are so much fun! And now the count down start until we find out if the baby is a boy or girl... 5 days!

19 Week Whirlwind

Life has been absolutely crazy lately. Honestly, 2010 has been very difficult and challenging . I was telling Anna today that it seems like just when things settle down a bit and we start to get things "picked-up and in order" something else blows up in our faces and we are overwhelmed once again. This past week has been such a whirlwind since Anna's dad passed away. The funeral services were nice and I think helped bring some closure for Anna and her brother. We now have to make several financial decisions that are not easy to make. Things seem unsettled in other areas of my (our) life as well. Also, I've started a summer semester of classes that will be a pretty intense workload until the beginning of August. Of course in the middle of all of this we are BLESSED to be pregnant! It's amazing and very interesting to me that the Lord would choose for us to bring another life into the world near the end of what has proven to be a very difficult year so far. I'm realizing just now that this also relates to the spiritual significance of the boy name we have in mind.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

*********************************************************************************************

Here's an update on the development of the baby from parentsconnect.com

This week your baby starts bulking up and packing on the grossly named "brown fat" he'll need to keep warm when he gets evicted from his comfortable uterine home. Other highlights this week:

Vernix, a milky white coating that protects your baby's skin, appears all over your baby's body to keep his skin from getting pickled in the amniotic fluid. Think of it as if your baby has been dipped in yogurt, like those delicious but fake-healthy yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels. Ooh, we feel another craving comin' on. ... Under the vernix, a fuzzy layer of hair called lanugo now covers baby's body. Don't worry, your Mini won't look like Cousin It when he's born. Most of the fuzz will fall off before baby makes his grand entrance.

Good news: Your baby's kidneys are fully functioning and producing urine this week. Bad news: That means there will be lots of diapers in your future. But so far you're safe—at the moment the pee just passes into the amniotic fluid. He or she now weighs about 8½ ounces and measures 6 inches.

***************************************************************************************************

That’s about all for now. We have some exciting things coming up though. Next week Anna is 20 weeks and that’s when they typically can tell if the baby is a boy or girl. We will have an ultrasound on June 15th and if the little one isn’t too shy we should know, or at least have a pretty good idea. Stay tuned!

The 18 week update is a sad one. Amelia's grandpa, Steve Crawford, passed away this past Sunday. Grandpa Steve loved Amelia so much and she brought so much joy to him in the last year of his life. I am thankful that Amelia was able to spend time with him and sad that our next baby will not know his/her Grandpa Steve. One recent memory that I hold dear of Amelia and her Grandpa is the easter egg hunt she did in Grandpa's backyard this year. I remember noticing that Grandpa Steve seemed to really enjoy watching her wander around collecting the eggs and putting them in her basket. Grandpa will be dearly missed by all of us!

I will be reading the New Testament scripture at the funeral service this weekend. The verse is from Romans 8. As I looked over it, I realized that this verse has some of the spiritual significance in the boy name that has been on my heart. If we are indeed having a boy, I think it's neat that this verse will be what I read at Grandpa's funeral and think it will be of special significance for Steve's grandson.

Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39

If God is for us, who can be against us?

He did not spare his own Son

but handed him over for us all,

will he not also give us everything else along with him?

Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones?

It is God who acquits us.

Who will condemn?

It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,

who also is at the right hand of God,

who indeed intercedes for us.

What will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will anguish, or distress or persecution, or famine,

or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?

No, in all these things, we conquer overwhelmingly

through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

nor angels, nor principalities,

nor present things, nor future things,

nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

nor any other creature will be able to seperate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Enjoying Time With Amelia

Anna is 17 weeks pregnant now. As I've mentioned before, time is just flying by! Life is going to change so drastically for the three of us when the new little one arrives. I'm sure we'll all go through personal adjustments as well as the corporate family adjustments of having a new member. I am so excited for the new addition, but I also want to savor the time left with Amelia as an only child. Yesterday we went to the zoo and it was an awesome day of enjoying time with Anna and Amelia.

16 Week OB appointment

We had our 16 week check up yesterday! I can't believe it's already been that long, this pregnancy seems to be flying by! Everything checked out good with the doctor. Some of the most exciting news is that Anna is gaining weight. She had lost 17lbs in the first trimester with Amelia and had lost 13lbs so far this pregnancy. Hopefully gaining some weight back is a good sign that Anna has turned the corner in feeling so crummy. We also got to hear the baby's heart beat again(woosh woosh), which is always so amazing!

After the appointment, Anna and I, thanks to grandma volunteering to babysit, went to see the movie "Babies" at the theater. It was so nice to get out and do something together (it was officially a double-date because our good friends the Bergeys, came with us). The film was actually very good. It's a documentary about 4 babies growing up in different parts of the world. Anna and I often talked about things we saw in the movie that we remember Amelia doing and get to look forward to seeing again with the new baby.

And hot off the press... A BREAKING DEVELOPMENT... Anna felt the baby move (flutter, flutter) for the first time tonight!! All of these developments are so exciting!! The next OB appointment is only 4 weeks away and that's when we'll find out if the baby is a boy or a girl.

Thats' all for now!

Amelia's New Role

Anna is 15 weeks along now. We've been trying to get Amelia somewhat familiar with the idea that mama has a baby inside her and that she is going to be a big sister. Amelia is only 14 months old, so we know she doesn't understand exactly what's going on. But we are trying to talk to her every day about babies. When we are out in public we point out babies to her and have her say baby. Amelia repeats us and it sounds more like "ba ba" when she says it. Anna has also been patting her belly and saying baby. Amelia will pat Anna's belly and say "ba ba" and then Amelia pats herself and says "ba ba". Amelia also brings us her dolls and says "ba ba". Just today we received a package from Uncle, Aunt and Cousins Aglar that included a pink t-shirt that says Big Sister and a book titled I'm A Big Sister by Joanna Cole. These are great new ways for us to keep introducing the topic to Amelia. Also, a couple of people we know have just had new babies, so I hope to get Amelia around them soon. Besides getting her used to the concepts of babies and being a big sister, I'm getting more and more excited about the amazing big sister Amelia is going to be. She is so sweet and loving and loves being around other kids. I think she is going to really enjoy showing her little brother... or sister :) how to play! And as you can tell from the pictures, she's already figured out that being a big sister is going to require lots of Starbucks to get the job done! She's a smart cookie AND her daddy's girl!!

Today, Anna is feeling better than she has all week. It was an especially hard week for Anna. We think she had a touch of the stomach bug that's been going around on top of the general icky-sicky pregnancy stuff. This is the third time Anna has gotten some other kind of sickness on top of the pregnancy since it started. Hopefully, now that we are in the second trimester, things will start to smooth out and Anna will feel better and more energized. She is such a trooper though!!

That's all for now! We have an OB appointment tomorrow, so I'll post again with updates from the doctor's visit in a couple of days.

14 Weeks: Boy Thoughts

Most of my thoughts about this pregnancy have been spent thinking about having a son. I have many people reminding me that I could be getting another daughter and to not be disappointed if the baby is girl. Honestly, there will be some amount of let down if it's not a boy... BUT not like I'll be upset about having another daughter, just a little sad I'm not having a son... does that make any sense?

One of the biggest things I've been thinking about, as I've been hoping for a son, is his name. Anna and I both believe that there is a lot of spiritual significance in someone's name. The Lord has shown Anna and I some cool things about our names and how they relate to how He has worked in our lives. I don't think it's possible for us to pick the "wrong name" necessarily, but it's something that I take seriously and really think about the spiritual implications. There is a boy name that has settled in my heart and spirit. I can't say that it's a final decision yet but at this point it's the only name I feel strongly about. Anna needs more time thinking about it and it will be difficult for her to settle on anything until we find out the sex of the baby. If you are wondering, we've also talked about girl names and have a pretty good idea of what the next girl would be named as well.

Anna has been doing ok. She has been struggling with the morning sickness and low energy. Sometimes she gets frustrated because she's isn't able to be up and doing "more". I try to encourage her to rest when she needs to rest. My wife is a very strong and independent person, so she doesn't like to feel like she has been taken out of commission. I remind her that even when she's resting that she isn't out of commission at all, she's doing the very hard and important work of nurturing a new life.

13 Weeks/Ode to the Pancreas

13 weeks along now and the pancreas has started to produce insulin for the new little guy/gal

I thought it appropriate to take some time to reflect on the amazing capabilities and functions of our pancreas with this delightful little diddy

A little 12 week update

Anna is 12 weeks along now (she begins a new week of pregnancy every friday, I don't always get around to posting these on fridays though) All of the pregnancy development stuff I read on the internet says that the baby's face really takes on human appearance this week. So that's exciting!

One of the biggest pregnancy related conversations my wife and I have been having lately is what doctor Anna should see. We did have one appointment with an OB, but Anna is having some second thoughts and considering switching to a new one. One of the biggest things this affects for me, as the daddy, is which hospital we will end up delivering at. My choice, purely based on the fact that I'm the guy and in charge of driving the pregnant lady to the hospital for delivery, is whatever doctor delivers at Parker Adventist, since it's literally 2 minutes from our house. Of course Anna has a lot of other requirements such as they have to be smart and have medical degrees and all of that little stuff. Joking aside, obviously it's crucial for Anna to be 100% comfortable and confident in the care she is receiving, even if that means driving 20 minutes to a different hospital. I know that, I get that, I'm totally in support of Anna picking whoever she wants... I'm just saying...

****It was a cold and stormy October evening when you're mother started going in to labor... I hurried her safely to the vehicle and we began the treacherous voyage to Sky Ridge Hospital. As the blizzard worsened, Lincoln Ave became impassable. There we were, stranded among the open pastures occupied by no one but the herds of cattle abandoned to the torments of the elements (yes there really are open pastures of cows, on Lincoln, on the way to Sky Ridge). Your mother let out a desperate scream and it was apparent that we were not going to make it to the hospital in time. With no other choice, I led your mom out in to the fields where we took refuge in the middle of a huddle of bovine. I looked your mom in the eye and started to coach her, ' Breath sweetie.. hee hee ho (MOOOOOO) hee hee ho (MOOOOOOO)'...*****

SIGH, oh well I'm sure it will all work out.

That's all for now!

11 Week Ultrasound Pictures

Here are the first few glimpses of the new little one...

.

Here We Go Again!

It's hard to believe that after only being a parent for 13 months, we are in the process of creating yet another little one! Yes, it was a bit of a surprise. We are excited and blessed nonetheless, God's timing is always perfect. Anna is almost 12 weeks along at this point. Anna is due October 28th. We had our first OB appointment yesterday. Everything looks great! The baby's heart was beating away and we even saw the little one moving around! Of course we got ultrasound pics printed out and given to us, once I figure out getting them in digital form, I will post them here. Those first sights and sounds of new life are so amazing!

Anna has been doing alright. She has been feeling pretty icky though. She's been saying that when she was 11 weeks along with Amelia is when things got the worst with her morning sickness. Her 11th week has been the worst so far this time around as well. However, she hasn't actually been getting sick as much as she did the first time.

So what has it been like for dad this time around so far?? It's been interesting. I'm already noticing some differences between our first pregnancy and this one. One of the biggest differences is that I almost forget we are even pregnant. I remember with Amelia, it consumed my thoughts all the time. I was constantly counting down the days, reading about pregnancy, and looking up developmental progress. I've always heard that you're more relaxed with the second one, but I don't want to miss out on the wonder and excitement of Anna being pregnant and bringing another life into the world. I hope that keeping up with this blog will help me appreciate the journey. I think it will be cool to look back through all the entries (If I keep up on updates, you know how terrible I am at staying consistent with my blogs) once the little one arrives.

I have also said to a few people that I am officially hoping for a BOY! yes, yes a healthy girl will be amazing, but I already have the most amazing, beautiful girl!! Having a boy is a big deal for me for many different reasons, many of them which I will blog about later if indeed we find out that we are having a boy.

That's all for now!